Kanye West (Jason Persse/Flickr)
Kanye West confirmed his plans for a 2020 presidential run, only to remain tight-lipped on the matter when asked about it later.
The rapper first made his plans known during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.
“It’s not about me,” he said onstage. “It’s about ideas. New ideas. People with ideas. People who believe in truth. And yes, as you probably could’ve guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for president.”
And now, he has given more insight into his platform.
During a radio interview with BBC Radio 1 due to air this week, West said he wouldn’t focus on politics. Instead, he’d zero in on society and honesty.
“When I talk about the idea of being president, I’m not saying I have any political views,” West said. “I don’t have views on politics, I just have a view on humanity, on people, on the truth. If there is anything that I can do with my time and my day to somehow make a difference while I’m alive, I’m going to try to do it.”
His remarks follow his statements to Vanity Fair last September advocating against division and touting unity.
“When I run for president, I’d prefer not to run against someone,” West said. “I would be like, ‘I want to work with you …’ But the idea of this separation and this gladiator battle takes away from the main focus that the world needs help and the world needs all the people in a position of power or influence to come together.”
But West’s newest statements to BBC come in a different racial climate after President-elect Donald Trump won the election last week. Across the nation, feelings of fear struck many Black communities and several protests broke out as a result. The sentiments even led to the hashtag #Kanye2020 emerging as a trending topic on Twitter Nov. 8, according to the New York Daily News.
“If white people wanna elect joke candidates, two can play that game,” Fiona tweeted.
https://twitter.com/BigHPrivateEye/status/796396835464216576
B believes West running for office isn’t as far-fetched as it seemed before.
https://twitter.com/psychobellz/status/796345916613656576
Abi Morris thinks the “Fade” rapper is America’s only hope.
There's only one man who can save us now #kanye2020 #ElectionNight pic.twitter.com/C9b4tPJGZF
— Abi Morris (@abicmorris) November 9, 2016
However, if anyone had hoped to gain more insight into his plans for the White House, West recently left them disappointed. He remained quiet when TMZ asked him about the 2020 election on Nov. 12 at Los Angeles’ LAX airport.
